When municipalities merge, they grow and, at the same time, experience a comprehensive reform process, both of which may affect political trust. We explore whether and how the large-scale municipal amalgamation reforms in Norway in the 2010s affected citizens' trust in local and national elected officials and assemblies. We examine the effects of both changes in size and reform processes using survey data on trust in local and national political officials and assemblies before, and at the time, of the merger. In contrast to studies conducted in Denmark, we do not find evidence that the Norwegian Local Government Reform had significant negative effects on political trust. We argue that this difference between Denmark and Norway can be explained by differences in how the two reform processes were implemented.

High political trust is often interpreted as a sign of good democratic health, and widespread distrust as a sign of democratic ill health. However, there is little knowledge about the basis on which people make assessments about whether to trust or distrust political actors. This article develops and applies a typology for political trust judgement. Through a content analysis of 1,105 open-ended survey questions about political trust and distrust, the study finds that people tend to assess (dis)trust of politicians based on whether they see the politicians as predictable, intrinsically committed, competent and responsive. Moreover, the study finds that citizens use different judgement bases to describe trust and distrust, suggesting that the two concepts are not pure negations of each other. While predictability is the most frequently reported basis for trusting politicians, a lack of intrinsic commitment is the most frequently reported basis for distrusting politicians. This article discusses the reasons for and implications of the apparently different bases for weighing judgements on trust and distrust.

The Samediggi (Sami Parliament) in Norway was established in 1989 after the critical juncture of the Alta conflict. As the Indigenous Sami people are dispersed, a self-determination body with political autonomy was chosen, neither fitting into a territorial nor a non-territorial model of autonomy. We examine how the Samediggi has developed as an institution for Sami self-determination, the kind of self-determination being developed and the features it has, and why the model of self-determination is not founded on territorial autonomy and self-rule but still has a territorial basis. Having neither an exclusive Sami territory nor lawmaking or fiscal powers, the Samediggi depends on cooperation with Norwegian institutions. Rather than breaking out from the state, the Samediggi's strategy is breaking in - indigenising national, regional and local governments from the inside through consultations and formal agreements, thereby extending Indigenous perspectives and participation into non-Indigenous affairs. Sami self-determination can thus be described as relational, resulting in a process marked by both setbacks and advances.

The relationship between the local party branch organisation and local councillors has been left largely unexplored in the party literature. We explore how this relationship varies within the case of Norway - a multi-party system with large variation in municipal size. Based on a survey of leaders of municipal party branches and local lists, as well as qualitative interviews with branch and list leaders, we analyse the causes of variation regarding two dependent variables: the degree of integration between the party branch and council group and the involvement of party branches in council work. The overall picture is that work in branches and council groups is strongly integrated. However, local branches of left-of-centre parties are likely to be more involved in council work and less likely to be fully integrated with their council groups. The left-of-centre tradition of giving more power to extra-parliamentary organisation seems to prevail. Die Beziehung zwischen lokalen Parteiorganisationen und Gemeinder & auml;ten ist in der Parteienliteratur weitgehend unerforscht. Wir untersuchen Variation dieser Beziehung im Fall Norwegens, einem Mehrparteiensystem mit gro ss en Unterschieden in der Gemeindegr & ouml;ss e. Basierend auf einer Befragung von F & uuml;hrungskr & auml;ften kommunaler Parteiverb & auml;nde und lokaler Listen sowie qualitativen Interviews mit Verbands- und Listenf & uuml;hrern analysieren wir die Ursachen der Variation hinsichtlich zweier abh & auml;ngiger Variablen: dem Grad der Integration zwischen Partei und Gemeinderat sowie der Beteiligung der Parteigliederungen in der Gemeinderatsarbeit. Insgesamt ist die Arbeit in den Parteiverb & auml;nden und Ratsgruppen stark integriert. Lokale Verb & auml;nde linksgerichteter Parteien d & uuml;rften jedoch st & auml;rker in die Ratsarbeit eingebunden und weniger vollst & auml;ndig in ihre Ratsfraktionen integriert sein. Die linksgerichtete Tradition, au ss erparlamentarischen Organisationen mehr Macht zu verleihen, scheint sich durchzusetzen. La relation entre l'organisation locale des partis et les conseillers locaux est rest & eacute;e largement inexplor & eacute;e dans la litt & eacute;rature du parti. Nous explorons comment cette relation varie dans le cas de la Norv & egrave;ge, un syst & egrave;me multipartite avec de grandes variations dans la taille des municipalit & eacute;s. Sur la base d'une enqu & ecirc;te aupr & egrave;s des dirigeants de sections municipales de partis et de listes locales, ainsi que d'entretiens qualitatifs avec les dirigeants de sections et de listes, nous analysons les causes de cette variation concernant deux variables d & eacute;pendantes: le degr & eacute; d'int & eacute;gration entre la section du parti et le groupe communal et l'implication des sections du parti dans le travail du conseil. L'analyse montre qu'en g & eacute;n & eacute;ral le travail dans les branches et les groupes de conseils est fortement int & eacute;gr & eacute;. Cependant, les sections locales des partis de centre-gauche sont susceptibles d'& ecirc;tre davantage impliqu & eacute;es dans le travail du conseil et moins susceptibles d'& ecirc;tre pleinement int & eacute;gr & eacute;es & agrave; leurs groupes municipaux. La tradition du centre-gauche consistant & agrave; donner plus de pouvoir aux organisations extraparlementaires semble pr & eacute;valoir. Il rapporto tra l'organizzazione locale del partito e i consiglieri locali & egrave; rimasto in gran parte inesplorato nella letteratura sui partiti politici. Questo articolo esplora come questo rapporto varia nel caso della Norvegia, un sistema multipartitico con grandi differenze nelle dimensioni dei comuni. Sulla base di un sondaggio condotto tra i leader delle sezioni comunali e delle liste locali, nonch & eacute; di interviste qualitative con i leader delle sezioni e delle liste, analizziamo le cause di variazione rispetto a due variabili dipendenti: il grado di integrazione tra sezione del partito e gruppo in consiglio comunale e il coinvolgimento delle sezioni del partito nel lavoro dei consigli. Il quadro generale & egrave; che il lavoro nelle sezioni e nei gruppi in consiglio comunale & egrave; fortemente integrato. Tuttavia, & egrave; probabile che le sezioni locali dei partiti di centro-sinistra siano maggiormente coinvolte nel lavoro dei consigli comunali e abbiano meno probabilit & agrave; di essere pienamente integrate con i rispettivi gruppi. Sembra quindi prevalere la tradizione del centro-sinistra di dare pi & ugrave; potere alle organizzazioni extraparlamentari.

Do enfranchisement reforms change the demographic composition of elected bodies? While previous research has demonstrated that suffrage extensions affect policy outcomes, the underlying mechanisms remain understudied. Focusing on the case of youth enfranchisement, we hypothesize that lowering the voting age to 16 years causes changes in both voter and party behaviour and leads to more young people being elected. Drawing on survey and observational data from local elections in Norway, we use quasi-experimental evidence from two voting age trials to test these suggestions. We show that municipalities with a lowered voting age saw significantly higher shares of young councillors elected. This effect was not due to changes in party behaviour, but to voters providing young candidates with more preference votes. The effect was most pronounced in the first election following the reform, indicating that some of it might be driven by older voters changing their behaviour in a one-off manner.

The article explores why women are better represented in municipal councils in Norway than in Denmark. This comparative case study offers a most similar systems design, as these two countries are similar on most relevant institutional variables, such as local government systems, electoral systems, party systems and societal gender equality, but they deviate on the dependent variable of women’s representation. Two unique comparative data sets are analysed: representative voter surveys and register data on all candidates (from the 2019 Norwegian and 2017 Danish municipal elections). The study focuses on demand-side explanations and concludes that institutional explanations do not appear relevant. Instead, the parties’ candidate selection matters: Norwegian parties are more concerned with gender balance than their Danish counterparts. Finally, the article discusses why this is the case and asks whether gender equality plays a more prominent role on the societal agenda in Norway than in Denmark.

The article analyses the impact of preference votes on the gender balance in municipal councils in Norway, and to what extent this impact varies with candidates' age, party and local context. We compare actual representation with a hypothetical closed-list outcome. The analyses show that both local political representation and the impact of preference votes are characterised by a gender-generation gap. Older women are underrepresented, while young women are represented on equal terms with young men. Young female candidates benefit from preference voting in larger municipalities, whereas the older generation of women loses out in both large and small municipalities. In conclusion, we argue that an intersectionality approach should pay more attention to variables other than ethnicity, including age and local context. Moreover, research on gender and political representation should take into account a gender-generation perspective.

Consultative referendums may provide crucial information about public opinion but have received little attention in the literature compared with their binding counterparts. In this article, we analyse 221 Norwegian local consultative referendums on municipal amalgamation using the Venice Commission’s code on referendums. Much of the referendum literature suggests that consultative referendums are in fact binding. The municipal councils followed the outcomes of the referendums in most cases, but 14% chose to go against it. While the overall impression is that the outcomes of consultative referendums are seen as binding, the data indicate that ballot design may affect voters’ choice as well as council decisions. Although many democratic standards were met, the wording of questions and alternatives on the ballot paper were problematic in a number of cases – reducing the democratic value of the citizens’ advice.

The aim of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of national trends and local variations at the 2019 local elections – the first elections to be held in the new, merged municipalities and counties. Looking at the nationwide results, the government parties as well as the Labour Party suffered losses, while the other opposition parties – especially the Centre Party – were the winners. While welfare policy has been high on the voter agenda in previous elections, the environment and climate change were the most important issues this time, especially among young voters. The voter agenda nevertheless varied between municipalities. Climate and the environment were, like the issue of toll roads, most important in the cities. In many peripheral districts, on the other hand, amalgamation of municipalities and other centralizing public sector reforms were significant issues. The centre-periphery dimension is still important in Norwegian politics, and it has contributed to the Centre Party’s gains – particularly in a number of former Labour Party strongholds in northern Norway. Local conditions also contribute to variation. Looking at results from individual municipalities, local deviations from the national trend have increased. Moreover, an increasing share of voters says that local issues were important for their vote.

In this introductory chapter, we present the foundations for the analyses of the main chapters. We first present some basic features of the Sámi political system in Norway: the electoral roll, the constituencies, and how the number of registered voters has increased in the different constituencies. Next, the parties and lists that participate in Sámi elections are presented. We then describe the political situation before the 2017 elections, and the outcome of this election. We then turn to the data and methods used in the book, before we present the chapters of the book and discuss some overarching conclusions.

The 2017 Sámi parliamentary elections saw an increase in turnout (measured in percent) for the first time since 2005. Although voter registration had increased, the number of votes increased even more. However, considering that one must register in the electoral roll to vote, 30 percent non-voters is a significant proportion. In this chapter, we use the voter survey to describe the non-voters. Regarding institutional factors, the analyses confirm the findings in Owren’s chapter: Although most of the electorate did not find it difficult to vote in the Sámi parliamentary elections, the exception was non-voters living in municipalities where only advance voting is allowed. Regarding individual factors, political resources matter. People with less education were especially overrepresented among the non-voters. Motivation is also important, and the non-voters were naturally less interested in politics in general and Sámi politics in particular. Those who joined the electoral roll to influence Sámi politics were seldom non-voters. On the other hand, those who signed up to express their Sámi identity were almost equally represented among the voters and non-voters. Although an instrumental motive for registration leads to high turnout, an expressive motive does not hinder electoral participation. We also find that non-voters to a lesser extent felt that their voice mattered or that there were political alternatives that represented their views. On the other hand, voters and non-voters did not differ substantially regarding perceived political differences between the parties and lists.

Self-determination for Indigenous peoples requires boundaries between those who are entitled to take part in the processes of self-determination and those who are not. In Norway, the registration criteria of the Sámi Parliament’s electoral roll constitute such boundaries. These criteria have not caused as much conflict in Norway as in other Nordic countries with Sámi Parliaments, but some debate has taken place. Some have argued for wider criteria, to allow certain groups without a Sámi ethnic background to register, while others prefer more narrow criteria to ensure that the registered voters have sufficient Sámi roots and cultural competence. In this chapter, we analyse attitudes towards the registration criteria within the registered Sámi electorate. The 2013 and 2017 voter surveys show essentially the same picture. About two-thirds were satisfied with the current criteria on both occasions. Among those who wanted a change, the majority were for expansion rather than limitation. Marriage to a registered voter and long-term connection to a Sámi community received the most support among the potential extension criteria. Attitudes became slightly more restrictive from 2013 to 2017, but the changes were larger within certain groups. In 2013, the question of expansion was to some extent party polarized. By 2017, these party differences had decreased: Labour Party voters had moved towards the more restrictive NSR voters. Also, some differences in attitudes to limitation appeared in 2017, when those who wanted stricter criteria were found primarily among those who had high scores on various measures of ties to the Sámi community.

In this chapter, we explore the ideological and political landscape of Sámi electoral politics. Which ideological and political cleavages are important in Sámi politics, and how do these cleavages manifest themselves in voting patterns and party differences? We use the Sámi election surveys from 2013 to 2017. The analysis describes a Sámi political landscape with small ideological and political differences, where primarily the Progress Party stands out. Voters who favour this party are far from other party voters on the central issue of Sámi self-determination, and there is a mutually frosty relationship between Progress Party voters and other voters. On some issues, Conservative Party voters are in an intermediate position between the Progress Party voters and the rest, and voters for the Nordkalottfolket party also have a somewhat different profile. However, the differences between the remaining parties are less clear. This also applies to the two main competitors, the NSR and the Labour Party, and the political distances found in our survey questions cannot explain the pattern of coalition formation in the Sámi Parliament. The relatively small distances between the largest parties can be advantageous in dealing outwardly with the Norwegian state. Internally, however, small political distances can blur the political landscape in the eyes of the voters and make it difficult to choose between parties.

This introductory chapter presents some general features of the Norwegian Local Election Study of 2019. First, we take a close look at the conditions that shaped the 2019 local elections, especially the municipal amalgamation reform. The number of municipalities – 428 at the time of the 2015 local elections – had been reduced to 356 for the 2019 elections, and as a result, many voters cast their votes in a new, merged political unit – yet prior to the actual merger’s implementation. Next, we briefly review the history of the Norwegian Local Election Studies and then present the chapters in the book. The subsequent sections include a more detailed description of the data material on which the book is based and the voter survey in particular. We conclude with some reflections on the way ahead for Norwegian local election research.

ABSTRACT Party organizations are often said to integrate the territorial levels in a political system. This article analyses how party organizations handled a specific issue – municipal amalgamations initiated by the state – in a unitary state – Norway. Two types of organizational linkage are explored. First, bottom-up influence: to what extent did party branches attempt to influence national party policy? Second, top-down coordination and control: to what extent were party branches tools for implementing national party policy? Based on qualitative interviews in five Norwegian parties, the analyses show that party organizations provided linkage in different ways. In the most united parties, low levels of internal disagreement enabled the parties – at all levels – to promote their national policies. In divided parties, the party organization became an arena for competition between opposing views. These parties chose to emphasize local self-determination. Accordingly, they had less of a national policy to implement.

Using Lipset and Rokkan's cleavage theory in an Indigenous context, the article compares political cleavages in internal Sami politics in Norway and Sweden. The authors discuss the historical legacies of each country's policies toward the Sami and subsequent development of party systems before using survey data to analyze cleavages within the Sami electorates. The analysis shows a prominent cleavage in Sami politics in Norway regarding the extent of Sami self-determination, whereas the main cleavage in Sweden can be found in the category-split between reindeer herders and other Sami created by state policy. Contemporary cleavages in Indigenous politics may, thus, be deeply rooted in nation-building processes.

Samer bosatt i byer utgjør en stadig stigende andel av de registrerte i Sametingets valgmanntall. Dermed har de bybosatte samene blitt gjenstand for økt oppmerksomhet, inkludert samepolitisk interesse. Hva skjer så med det samiske partisystemet når bysamene kommer på den samepolitiske dagsordenen? I artikkelen undersøker vi i hvilken grad aktører som stiller liste ved sametingsvalg i Norge, eksplisitt utformer politikk innrettet mot samer som er bosatt i byer. Dette gjøres gjennom en studie av valgprogram for åtte partier og andre listestillere i perioden 2009–2017. Vi finner at bysamer generelt er blitt et tema i valgprogrammene. I 2009 var det tydelige forskjeller mellom de store listestillerne i prioritering av bysamene. Fra og med 2013 har derimot ingen av disse partiene utvetydig prioritert samiske bygdesamfunn på bekostning av bysamene. Det har således funnet sted en konvergens på dette saksfeltet. Noen partier er mer forbeholdne overfor bysamene, men det ser ut til å være primært fordi deres samepolitiske ambisjoner generelt er mer begrensede. Det er derfor ikke treffende å snakke om en skillelinje mellom bysamiske og bygdesamiske partier. Bysamenes situasjon er heller blitt et valensspørsmål; en fellesverdi som de fleste listestillerne vil prioritere, men uten å nedprioritere samiske bygdesamfunn.

Lokale partilag og lister har en viktig portvokterfunksjon når de velger ut kandidater som velgerne kan stemme på til lokalvalg. Slik har partiene innvirkning på kjønnsfordelingen blant de folkevalgte. I denne artikkelen belyser vi hvorvidt lokale partilag og lister betrakter lav kvinnerepresentasjon som et demokratisk problem. Vi undersøker dels hvordan de forholder seg til kjønnsbalanse som en demokratisk verdi, og dels hvorvidt de arbeider for å oppnå kjønnsbalanse når de nominerer kandidater til kommunestyrevalg. Med data fra partilag og lister i 43 norske kommuner som skiller seg ut ved å ha lav kvinnerepresentasjon og som deltok i et prosjekt for å sette kvinner og politikk på den lokale dagsordenen, studerer vi partipolitiske likheter og forskjeller. I likhet med tidligere studier med mer representative utvalg, viser også våre funn partiforskjeller: Partier ytterst til høyre – her FrP – er minst likestillingsorienterte og minst opptatt av kjønnsrepresentasjon. Funnet etterlater et hvorfor-spørsmål: Handler det bare om ideologi og holdninger, eller handler det (også) om praktiske og konkrete forhold som setter begrensninger for hva som er mulig?